A Stack of Fiesta Bowls or Juicy Colors Redone

When I did the Juicy Colors sketch earlier, I wasn't happy with the fiesta bowl the fruit was in. After doing some thumbnails of a fiesta bowl (like Liz Steele's teacup studies), I redid the assignment using a stack of fiesta bowls as subjects. There was some improvement. Using Stratford Multi Media Visual Journal instead of Stillman-Birn Alpha Series sketchbook also prevented paper buckling when doing the watercolor wash.

A Stack of Fiesta Bowls

Paper:Stratford Multi-media Visual Journal 9"x12"

Media: Sennelier Watercolor, mechanical pencil, Prismacolor pencils

Note: Stratford Visual Journal did not buckle with watercolor wash

Sketch for 1/14/2015 and Boot Kamp Assignment 3

Using the Lamy Safari to sketch this toy fox was a great way to practice on textures. In the future I want to try this exercise with permanent ink and colored washes.

Toy Squeaky Fox

Paper: Stirman-Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook 4"x6"

Media: Higgins Fountain Pen India Ink (non-waterproof) and Lamy Safari (extra-fine nib)

Assignment 3 from Boot Kamp involved using colored pencils on a watercolor wash. I sorted through a bag of clementines. Four that had seen better days went to the chickens; the others I sketched.

A Bowl of Clementines

Paper: Stirman-Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook 8 1/2" x 11"

Media: Sennelier Watercolor, mechanical pencil, Prismacolor pencils

Note: Using somewhat large amounts of water for the wash caused some buckling.

Dilbert and Making Money

 No, Dilbert is not making money....I wish! I got the sketches finished, but didn't upload them until today. Dilbert was sitting on the coffee table and it was a perfect opportunity to catch a gesture drawing of him misbehaving.

Dilbert Tablewalker

Paper: Stirman-Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook 4"x6"

Media: Higgins Fountain Pen India Ink (non-waterproof) and Noodler Ahab Flex pen

Assignment 2 in Sketchbook Skool Boot Kamp was Making Money. I never have cash, so a trip to the bank was necessary. Carefully crumpling my cash, I set up my first subject and began to sketch it using various fountain pens. One of the cats ran over my setup ending my first attempt. I tried two more sketches using different pens and a waterbrush with nonwaterproof ink.  It's a challenging project!

Cause and Effect Apple

Paper: Stillman and Birn Alpha series sketchbook  8.5"x11"

Media: Noodler Ahab Flex pen, Jinhao 750 pen, Lamy Safari pen and Niji waterbrush with Higgins black india ink for fountain pens (non-waterproof)

Snack Time

Cold, wet Sundays are a wonderful time to snack on a piece of freshly baked gingerbread and a mug of tea. It's also a good time to sketch the snack.

 In Sketchbook Skool: Kourse 2.1.2 "Seeing", Liz Steele, showed her architectural approach of using thumbnails to analyze what she is looking at prior to actually sketching. Before doing my actual sketch, I did thumbnails of the mug and the gingerbread.

By this time I felt like the gingerbread was taunting me, but I did the sketch. 

Sunday Snack: Gingerbread and Tea

Paper: Stillman and Birn Alpha series sketchbook  8.5"x11"

Media: Pencil, Sennelier watercolor, Derwent Inktense Watercolor pencils, Derwent Watercolor pencils

First Assignment: Sketchbook Skool Boot Kamp: The Amazing Disappearing Apple

Okay, it's not one of Houdini's lesser known tricks. I ate the apple as part of my Cause and Effect Still Life in Sketchbook Skool Boot Kamp. I included a running commentary of each sketch.  Each apple became easier to draw, as my confidence grew.

Cause and Effect Apple

Paper: Stillman and Birn Alpha series sketchbook  8.5"x11"

Media: Pencil, Sennelier watercolor, Derwent Inktense Watercolor pencils, Lamy Safari pen with Higgins black india ink for fountain pens (non-waterproof)

Old Garden Gloves

These old leather gloves have seen lots of work: assembling chicken coops, building raised garden beds, pruning, bushes.... All those tasks have given them character. The wrinkles, creases, stains and folds tell the story of years of work. They deserve to be commemorated in a sketch, after checking to see that a colony of mice have not taken up residence.

I'm really enjoying my Noodler Ahab Flex pen. The flexible pen is more responsive to the kind of line I want. The Higgins non-waterproof india ink for fountain pen can be used on a dry watercolored surface or used with a waterbrush to make a shaded sketch, besides being excellent for line drawings. I am planning on purchasing some various kinds of permanent fountain pen ink to see how each works. 

Old Leather Garden Gloves

Paper: Stirman-Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook 4"x6"

Media: Higgins Fountain Pen India Ink (non-waterproof) and Noodler Ahab Flex pen

Je Suis Charlie

Sketching can tell a story; it can be a response to events, good or bad. Today's sketch is in response to the events in Paris yesterday.

This sketch was simple to draw, but deciding on the concept was difficult. I had something to say, but what?

• Cartoons don't kill people. People kill people. (Too much like the NRA slogan.)
• People shouldn't die because of a cartoon, nor should they kill because of a cartoon.
• "If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine." --quote from Star Wars IV, A New Hope
• Je suis Charlie.
• I looked at Buzz Feed's  23 Heartbreaking Cartoons From Artists Responding To The Charlie Hebdo Shooting to see how various cartoonists handled the event. Powerful images that made me laugh and cry at the same time.

My final choice was to draw a crowd of people standing behind a Je suis Charlie banner. Each person held a pen, ready to add their images to the growing mass of images and words that have already responded to this tragedy.